ANNOUNCES 2025 HALL OF FAME INDUCTEES

December 12, 2024 (Ottawa, Ontario) - The Ottawa Valley Golf Association (OVGA) is pleased to announce its fifth class of inductees into the OVGA Hall of Fame. We welcome Kurtis Barkley, Marc-Etienne Bussieres and Ernie Wakelam in the Player Category, as well as Danielle Nadon in the Builder Category, and Bob Henry for Special Recognition.

The OVGA Hall of Fame was established in 2021 to recognize, honour, and perpetuate the memory of individuals and organizations that have made a significant and positive contribution to golf in the area served by the Association. Inductees include players, both amateur and professional, as well as builders within the area served by the Association.

"Our fifth class of inductees in the OVGA Hall of Fame in 2025 recognizes golfers who have excelled in our sport and those who give back to the game”, said OVGA Hall of Fame Co-Chair, Dru Lafave. I have great respect and admiration for the three players who have had outstanding careers, and one individual in the Builder category who has dedicated significant time and effort over many years supporting competitive golf. For the first time, we also give recognition to an individual who possibly owns a world record. It is also a real pleasure and a humbling experience to be Co-Chair of the OVGA Hall of Fame Committee."

2025 OVGA HALL OF FAME INDUCTEES

PLAYER CATEGORY

KURTIS BARKLEY

Kurtis Barkey with OVGA City & District Championship trophy

Chesterville, Ontario’s Kurtis Barkley was born with severe scoliosis and seven of his vertebrae fused together, but this hasn’t slowed him down. Since picking up a golf club at the early age of three, Kurtis has progressed in life to overcome his disabilities and become a champion golfer with numerous wins in the Upper Canada and Morrisburg Opens as well as numerous Cedar Glen Golf Club Championships.

In OVGA competition, Kurtis was the winner of the 2013 City & District Match Play, the 2014 & 2017 “A” Class Men’s Division of the Tournament of Club Champions, and in 2016 and 2018, he won the City & District Championship. Kurtis also won the 2015 Flagstick Golf Magazine Spring Amateur Championship at Smuggler’s Glen.

Kurtis has won the Golf Ontario Disability Championship on four occasions in 2018, 2019, 2021 & 2022; Golf Canada’s All Abilities Championship in 2021 and 2022, and in 2023, he won the United States All Abilities Championship in the Small Stature Division. He is now a regular player on the G4D (Golf for the Disabled) Tour and an EDGA (European Disabled Golf Association) Member.

MARC-ETIENNE BUSSIERES

2018 PGA of Canada Assistant’s Champion

PGA of Canada Photo

Marc-Etienne is now a PGA of Canada golf professional working at the Longchamp Golf Academy in Sherbrooke, Quebec. Gatineau, Quebec-raised, Marc-Etienne played his amateur golf career while a member at the Rivermead and The Royal Ottawa golf clubs.

In OVGA events, he was the winner of the 2004 City & District Junior and the 2007 & 2008 City & District Men’s Match Play Championships. Marc-Etienne also won the Ottawa Citizen Amateur Golf Championship in 2006, 2007 and 2009.

He won his first Golf Quebec event with his 2003 Juvenile Championship, and followed in 2005 with his win in the Graham Cooke Junior Invitational. His next Golf Quebec wins were in 2007 with his Match Play win, and in 2008 with his Alexander of Tunis win. In 2009, Marc-Etienne won the Golf Quebec Spring Open, the Golf Quebec Amateur Championship and his second Golf Quebec Match Play Championship. He would finish his amateur career with his third Golf Quebec Match Play Championship in 2010.

As a professional golfer, Marc-Etienne has won three Golf Quebec Spring Opens (2011, 2015, 2021); the PGA of Canada Championship in 2016 and two PGA of Canada Assistant Championships (2017, 2018). He also teamed with Richelieu Valley Professional Dave Levesque to win the 2016 Nike Golf PGA of Canada Team Championship, and in 2020, he won the PGA of Quebec Drummondville Invitational. Notably, Marc-Etienne was recognized as the PGA of Canada Mike Weir Player of the Year in 2016.

ERNIE WAKELAM

 

Photo supplied by the Wakelam Family

Ernie Wakelam started his career as a golf professional at the Isle d’Orleans Golf Club in Quebec City in 1923-1924. He moved on to the Kent Club, Morency Falls (1925-1927); the Brockville Country Club (1928-1930); the McKellar Park Golf Club in Ottawa (1931-1932) and the Gatineau Golf Club in 1934. He became an assistant to Karl Keffer at The Royal Ottawa Golf Club in 1935 and eventually became head professional upon Mr. Keffer’s retirement in 1945. Ernie eventually retired from The Royal Ottawa Golf Club in 1962.

Ernie’s record for tournament play speaks for itself, and it is evident why he was rated one of the best golfers in the country by his peers. Aside from his local wins throughout the Ottawa Valley and Quebec, Ernie would always finish high in National competitions and he was runner up twice in Quebec Open Championships. Ernie was the low Canadian in the 1929 Canadian Open held at the Kanawaki Golf Club in Quebec. In 1936, Ernie teamed with Chaudière Golf Club’s Bobby Alston on the Canadian Team to take three of the four Canadian Team points in the International Matches against the United States in Toronto.

As a senior professional golfer, Ernie came into his own with five Quebec PGA Senior Championships and four CPGA, now PGA of Canada, Senior Championships.

Ernie Wakelam, who thought of himself as a golf professional looking after the needs of the country’s golf hungry amateurs, passed away on October 29, 1972.

BUILDER CATEGORY:

DANIELLE NADON

Joe McLean photo

Danielle Nadon in 2025 is entering her 47th year as a PGA of Canada Golf Professional. Since her 2-year apprenticeship start at the age of 17 at the Outaouais (now Rockland) Golf Club, Danielle has worked as an assistant golf professional at Rivermead, Chaudière and Toronto Board of Trade golf clubs. When Danielle took the position of golf professional at the Loch March Golf and Country Club in 1987, she was one of only three female club head professionals in Canada, and the first who was a francophone. Danielle became the Director of Golf Operations / HP at the Chaudière (now Chateau Cartier) Golf Club in 1989. In 1993, Danielle set up her own golf school operating at different locations until her return to Loch March in 2010.

Danielle was the PGA of Canada Ottawa Zone’s Lady Champion in 1990 and 1991. In 1993, Danielle was honoured as the PGA of Canada Ottawa Zone and PGA of Canada Teacher of the Year. She served on the Board of Directors with the PGA of Canada Ottawa Zone for twelve years and became its President in 1995 and 1996. In 2021, the PGA of Canada Ottawa Zone recognized her as its Head Professional and Retailer of the Year, and the PGA of Canada named her their Club Professional of the Year.

As a volunteer, Danielle has always given back her time. Among the many charities she has supported are the Peter Gzowski Literacy golf tournaments across Canada for ten years; the Women Tee It Up For Y Kids tournaments (sending kids to Y camps) and the Jeanne Fuller Red Dress Tournament benefitting the University of Ottawa Heart Institute Foundation.

Danielle had been involved with the du Maurier Golf Classic for many years as a player and a volunteer and she acted as the master of ceremony for the final year of the du Maurier Classic held at The Royal Ottawa Golf Club in 2000. In 2008 and 2017, Danielle served as the co-chair of the Canadian Women’s Open held at the Ottawa Hunt & Golf Club.

SPECIAL RECOGNITION:

The OVGA Hall of Fame Committee has the right to consider a nomination that does not meet the minimum guidelines, but that falls within exceptional circumstances.

BOB HENRY

Bob Henry has struck his golf ball from the teeing area into the cup on a distant green throughout primarily Eastern Ontario sixty-two times, his last one on October 29, 2022. His hole-in-one golf balls have travelled an accumulated distance of 9,382 yards or 5.33 miles.

Research has indicated that his achievement of 62 holes-in-one is a world record.

Golf professional Mancil Davis, nicknamed the King of Aces, has made 51 holes-in-one. This feat is widely accepted as an unrivaled mark for a professional golfer. The Guinness Book of World Records is cautious when it comes to touting aces. The organization limits its recognition of most hole-in-one records to professional events (Hal Sutton and Robert Allenby are tied on the PGA Tour, with 10) - the ones that are easiest to verify.

Bob was first listed as “Ottawa’s Hole-In-One King” in an article in Flagstick Golf Magazine’s 2003 Winter edition. Since then, he has had three additional articles in Flagstick Golf Magazine. On July 30, 2013, an article written by Tim Baines titled “Kanata Lakes golfer’s wizardry results in 28 holes-in-one”. In the Ottawa Sun article, then Kanata Lakes Director of Golf, Scott Johnson was asked, “Is there a secret to putting your tee shot into a cup so far away?”.

Mr. Johnson responded – “Bob hits a low draw that usually lands somewhere near the front of the green. That allows for the ball to get on the ground quickly, start rolling, take the contours of the green, take the breaks and sometimes funnel towards the hole. You’ve got to have a little luck for it to go in. A lot of the time, it goes near the hole and it misses, or it’s the wrong speed. I believe there’s a certain shot type that gives you a bit more of an advantage and Bob’s got it.”

Eleven golf courses are on Bob's list of recorded holes-in-one. Leading the way are Pakenham Highlands Golf Club (31), and Kanata Golf and Country Club (19). Bob has been a member at both clubs. The local courses where he has recorded two holes-in-one are Eagle Creek Golf Club, GreyHawk Golf Club, Scottish Glen Golf Course and The Marshes Golf Club. Single holes-in-one by Bob have also been recorded at the Calabogie Highlands Golf Resort, Grandview Golf Club (Huntsville, Ontario), Ottawa Hunt & Golf Club, Maple Leaf Golf & Country Club in Port Charlotte, Florida and the Pine View Golf Course.

The Ottawa Valley Golf Association recognizes the achievements of all of our 2025 Inductees and we welcome them to our OVGA Hall of Fame. Plans are underway for individual, as well as group, award presentations.

Nomination procedures for the OVGA Hall of Fame are available online at ovga.org.

About the OVGA:

The Ottawa Valley Golf Association is a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting the growth and development of amateur golf in the Ottawa Valley and Outaouais regions through its junior development programs and amateur competitions.

For more information, contact Dru Lafave, tournaments@ovga.org